Can Evil Love?
by pottermaniafan
Summary: Huge DH Spoiler! Harry Potter has defeated Lord Voldemort. But what does he do when he finds that there is still something on this earth that remains from Voldemort's murky past? Read DH before reading this fic. HP/GW RW/HG Update in progress.
1. Prologue

Prologue

(prologue takes place before Harry Potter is born)

Lord Voldemort stood with his back to the door, staring out the window into the darkness. It was nearly midnight and he was pondering something that had been bothering his mind for more than a year now. He breathed in deeply and turned toward the man kneeling behind him.

"Stand, Lucius," he said.

Lucius Malfoy stood quickly, his face still looking at the floor in the usual sign of respect. Voldemort walked toward him, drawing his wand from his pocket and twiddling it between his fingers. Lucius's eyes wavered to it, a small glint of fear shining in his eyes. Voldemort's thin mouth twisted into a smile. The fear he caused in his followers delighted him.

"You are not to tell anyone what I am ordering you to do. You shall keep it silent. If you tell I will not be pleased at all," Voldemort hissed.

"Oh course, my Lord. No one shall know."

Lucius was beginning to look excited. The young fool was so ignorant. All he wanted was power. That was what worried Voldemort. His Death Eaters had begun to grow restless, even though he let them go have fun nearly every day now. There was hardly a night that the wizarding world didn't see the Dark Mark hovering over some building these days. But they seemed to be forgetting who there master was. Just a day ago a Death Eater had abandoned Voldemort's orders to go have his own fun. He had already been punished. This was one reason that Voldemort had finally made up his mind.

He turned back to the window and growled in a low voice, "Bring me Bellatrix."

"Bellatrix?" Lucius asked, trying to hide the shock and disappointment in his voice.

"Do not question orders," Voldemort turned with a sneer; "I said bring me Bellatrix. She is your sister in law after all. I would think you would know who I was talking about."

Lucius flushed and murmured, "Forgive me, my Lord."

"You are forgiven. Now go."

Lucius turned with a bow and quickly headed toward the door, his cloak swishing behind him.

"And Lucius," Voldemort began, "tell no one."

Lucius bowed again and swept from the room. Voldemort turned to the window and watched as the small pinpoint of light that he knew was Lucius, enter the outdoors, heading quickly toward the gate. When it reached it the light turned on the spot and vanished into the night.

Only fifteen minutes later, two lights appeared just outside the same gate. Lucius was back, but behind him was a slightly smaller figure. Voldemort watched as they came down the walk and entered the old house, raising their arms as they did so.

Within moments there was a rap at the door. Voldemort turned back into the dark room as the door opened. The two entered, Lucius uncloaked, the other still with its hood on. They bowed low at Voldemort's feet.

"Leave us, Lucius."

Lucius immediately stood and exited the room. Voldemort stared after him with a frown, before turning to the other figure still kneeling on the floor.

"Welcome Bella."

The figure stood and lowered its hood, revealing a beautiful face. Two dark, liquid, brown eyes stood out on the dark and thin face. The black, flowing hair fell down to her back. Her cloak fell elegantly down her figure. Voldemort stared at her face, her eyes focused on the ground.

"You sent for me, my Lord?"

"Indeed. Come and join me," Voldemort whispered.

Bellatrix followed him into a corner of the room, where two armchairs sat facing each other. Voldemort flicked his wand and a gas lamp lit itself.

"Make yourself comfortable."

Bellatrix let her cloak fall onto the chair, before sitting on it herself. Her face held a curious look. Now that she had been formally invited in, she was allowed to look at her master. She stared respectfully into his face as he stared across at her.

"Bellatrix," Voldemort began, "you know what power is."

It was not a question. Bellatrix looked more curious then ever. She didn't let her eyes stray from him, hoping to display the utmost attentiveness.

"Power has a way of getting out of control at times," Voldemort continued. "But neither I, nor anyone wants to lose their power. I think the Death Eaters are beginning to want my power for their own."

Bellatrix leaned forward quickly. "My Lord! Never! We would…"

But Voldemort raised his hand for silence. "I need a follower who will give me everything. I need someone that I can have complete control over."

Bellatrix face betrayed a flicker of fear, which changed quickly into a look of maddening elation. She fell forward onto her knees, tears of joy streaming down her cheeks, looking up at Voldemort.

"I will give you everything!" she cried.

Voldemort didn't say anything. After a few seconds of silence, Bellatrix's tears stopped. Her eyes widened, realizing that she had made a mistake. She sat back in her seat, looking horrified.

"No, not you," Voldemort whispered. "I cannot have complete control over your mind. I need to raise someone that will know nothing but my wishes. And for that, Bella, I need your help."

Bellatrix stared at Voldemort, not fully understanding what he had said. She sat still and slowly, comprehension dawned on her face. She stared at Voldemort in shock. He smiled at her and whispered, "Yes."

Bellatrix flung herself onto the floor, more tears pouring down her face, kissing the feet of her beloved master.

Voldemort took her face in his hands and raised it to his eye level. "Bellatrix, you shall not tell anyone, or you shall be punished so severely that you may never see the light of day again."

Bellatrix nodded, tears still glistening on her face, and beaming with happiness.


	2. Love is Lost While Love is Found

Chapter 1

Love is Lost While Love is Found

(Takes place after the Battle of Hogwarts)

Harry Potter was running. His heart was bounding fiercely in his chest as he sprinted down the road. He heard the people yelling to him, telling him to stop or wait, but he didn't listen. He continued to run letting the wind whip around him.

He ran out of Hogsmeade not looking back. When he reached a hill, he stopped and stared ahead of him. He looked across the landscape and at the beautiful sunset. The wind whistled through the grass as he stared ahead, letting the sun shine into his already burning eyes. Harry realized that if he was a different person, or in a different situation, he might appreciate the beauty and peacefulness of it all.

He sat down in the wild grass and looked to the hills. He had once followed Sirius up them. Harry shook his head and looked somewhere else. But where ever he looked he had a different memory that stung. Hogsmeade station: Tonks had found him there once, under his invisibility cloak in a dreadful state. The forbidden forest: Lupin had chased him and Hermione in there when he had transformed into a werewolf. The black lake: Harry had saved Sirius from the dementors there and had thought he had seen his dad. No place seemed to hold any peace for Harry.

He picked at the grass around his legs and remembered the meeting he had just been apart of. The Order had meet in the Hogs Head, which Aberforth had closed off to the public for a day. They had been discussing the past and what to do with the future. They had, of course, talked about Harry. He had finished the task that Dumbledore had told him to do, but the Order was convinced that he was in dreadful danger. All of them seemed to think that the remaining Death Eaters would all try and kill him.

But that wasn't what had upset Harry, though it did make him uncomfortable. The Order had also discussed the Battle of Hogwarts. It had only been a few days afterwards and Hogwarts was in complete disarray. Many people were wounded and had had to be transported to St. Mungo's.

Harry stared at the ground as he remembered McGonagall's sinister words. "We have the death count. Fifty-four died during the battle and…" McGonagall had paused, "and another thirty died of injuries after the battle."

A shard of ice had pierced Harry's heart as she said it. Eighty-four people had been killed. It had been too much for him. He had run from the building, with the Order screaming after him. Now he felt ashamed of himself for running, but he wanted to be alone. He didn't want them to see him. He didn't want his friends to watch him cry.

Tears streamed down Harry's face as he stared into the sunset. He felt the pain of loss that he had felt so many times before. It was worse then any pain that he had ever felt. The pains from his scar that he should feel no more were nothing compared to the writhing and tearing he felt inside himself. With the tears falling down his cheeks he stood and screamed as loud as he could. His call echoed across the sky, coming back to him, reverberating inside himself. But it did not stop the pain. Harry fell forward onto his knees and hands, shaking. He took one hand and placed it over his eyes as he cried.

Harry heard footsteps behind him and he quickly wiped his eyes on his sleeve, knowing that it would hardly do any good. He felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. He looked up as Ginny knelt down beside him.

"Harry?"

Harry breathed deeply as he looked back down at the ground. He wanted to yell and scream at everyone, but as he looked back at Ginny his anger collapsed. He took her hand and sat up, looking at her face. It was full of concern and love. Harry felt that he was not worthy to look at her. It was because of him that her brother was dead. He looked away.

Ginny seemed to know exactly what he was thinking. She took his hands and squeezed them as she whispered, "Harry, it's not your fault."

Harry didn't look up, but shook his head. Ginny grabbed his shoulders and turned him toward her. "It is not your fault!" she said again. "Nothing that happened was your fault. Everything happened for a purpose."

"You sound like Dumbledore."

"Maybe I do. And maybe it's a good thing. If he hadn't told you about the horcruxes then You-Know-Who, I mean, er, Voldemort, would probably still be alive."

"And so would everyone else."

"No they wouldn't Harry! Voldemort wasn't afraid to kill! People were dieing and disappearing all the time! Everyone that fought did it willingly. Everyone fought beside you by choice."

Harry looked up at Ginny. He, Ron and Hermione had filled Ginny in on everything that had happened to them while they had been gone. Ron had conveniently left out the fact that he had deserted them, but Hermione had filled in the blank. Ginny had gotten so mad at Ron that she had cursed him. Hermione had had to read up on some books in order to find the counter jinx.

Harry smiled at Ginny. They hadn't been alone together for nearly a year and Harry felt rather awkward. But at the same time he felt a sense of great relief. Voldemort was dead and Ginny was safe. He didn't need to worry about her being used to get to him. That thought cheered him greatly.

"Ginny, I'm sorry about everything."

Ginny smiled and said, "Don't be. Everything will be okay. The only thing I'm worried about is you."

"Me? You don't believe that whole Death Eater plot do you?"

"Maybe. But that's not why."

"What is it then?"

"You're never going to get a moments peace," Ginny smiled and then laughed, nodding her head toward Hogsmeade station.

There were tons of people gathering there and as Harry stared he saw that they all were looking at him and Ginny. And they all had cameras. Harry could barely make out the figure of Rita Skeeter, standing in the front of the group, waving her arms at some people standing further from the group. As Harry watched he saw that Hagrid, Ron, Hermione, and George were keeping the reporters at bay with shield charms, Hagrid's the largest.

The sight was ridiculous that Harry couldn't help but laugh. He turned back to Ginny and with a smile on his face; he put his hand behind her head and pulled her close to him. She closed her eyes as their lips met. Harry breathed in that flowery scent that he loved so much and he wrapped his arms around her waste and she placed her hands on his back. They lay down in the grass and held each other for a long time. When they finally pulled away from each other Ginny smiled.

"You know," she said, "Dumbledore was right."

Harry tilted his head with a smile and asked, "What do you mean?"

"He said your greatest power was love."

Harry laughed and pulled her toward him again.


	3. Wierdness

Chapter 2

Weirdness

Michelle sat in a huddled ball, glaring viciously at the pile of dishes that she had to do. She could not remember a day when she hadn't had a million chores to do. Michelle glanced over at the living room and saw the pile of clothes that she still had to fold and put away.

Once again she sat wishing that she could be like everybody else at her school. She was, of course, known as a freak and a weirdo. It wasn't just the fact that her clothes were always the wrong size or her black hair hung stringy and messy around her face, that people avoided her. It was also the strange things that happened to around her. Her strange ability to control things was her worst enemy, and her best friend.

Aunt Helen's tense face poked out from around the living room doorway. She looked around and frowned.

"You haven't even started yet?"

Michelle pointed to a stack of clean plates that had made it halfway to their place on the shelf. Aunt Helen rolled her eyes and then walked up to Michelle with her hands on her hips. Michelle braced herself for the speech.

"Michelle, you need to do better. I don't know why I even keep you. You aren't my responsibility. You aren't even my relative. But I have kept you and I feel responsible, but if you don't start acting more respectful then I will have to let you leave."

Michelle knew that "let you leave" really meant kick you out. She didn't really care if she was kicked out. As Aunt Helen had said a million times, she didn't belong here. She belonged somewhere else. Aunt Helen wasn't really her Aunt, just someone who had found her in an abandoned house.

"I'm going to the store and when I get back this had all better be clean. You know that Bernard doesn't like coming home to a messy house."

Michelle let out a sigh and murmured, "Yes ma'am."

Uncle Bernard was a drunk. Michelle didn't think he even noticed if the house was messy or not, but he sure trashed it up. If he got really bad, Michelle would hide all day in her room. Aunt Helen accepted Michelle's weirdness better then Uncle Bernard. If he could, he would blame everything on Michelle.

Aunt Helen left and Michelle stood up and stretched her arms out. She looked up at the heaping stacks of dishes and groaned. A slithering sound near her feet made her look down. A little garden snake was resting near her shoes. Aunt Helen would have screamed her head of if she had been there, but Michelle merely bent over and picked the little snake up.

"Hello," she whispered. The snake stared at her with its unblinking eyes. He was a regular visitor, as were all the garden and water snakes living near the little house by the river. Snakes just were naturally drawn to Michelle.

Once, in her science class, a man had brought a snake to show. It had looked right a Michelle and then inched slowly toward her. When the man had realized that the snake was trying to wrap itself around Michelle's arm, he a stammered that the snake wouldn't hurt her. But Michelle knew that it wouldn't. Somehow, she could tell that the snake was a friend.

Michelle looked down at the little snake and then at the piles of dirty dishes.

"Want to see something?" Michelle whispered. "I wouldn't dare do this if my Aunt or Uncle were here, but…"

Michelle paused and took a deep breath. Then she closed her eyes and focused hard on the fact that she wanted the dishes to be clean. She let a nervous excitement fill her belly and then let it all out. She waited, her eyes still closed, and then she heard the sound of tinkling china. She opened her eyes and watched as the dishes floated around in the air, lining up as the sink filled with water and the scrubbers began to clean them.

Michelle smiled her croaked smile and then turned her back on the kitchen. She looked into the living room and at the clothes. Once again, she filled herself up with jittering butterflies and then let them out. The clothes began folded themselves up and sorting into piles. Once in piles they headed up the stairs to the right dressers.

Michelle looked down at the snake in her hands and raised her eyes. "Good, huh?"

She could have sworn that the snake hissed yes. She looked nervously at it and then headed up the stairs to her room. It was very small, but it was her very own.

She lay down on her bed beside the window and stared into the growing darkness. The little snake wrapped around her finger and lay still, as though it was sleeping. Michelle stared over the hills, wondering what it would be like to be away from this simple life. Many times she had pondered running away, but she'd never done it. She would be an adult in a little les than a year and a half and she didn't want to mess things up for herself.

Just then she heard a rumble of a car pulling up. She stared down and saw that it wasn't Aunt Helen's car, but Uncle Bernard's. She groaned. He wasn't expected for at least two more hours and he would be upset that there was no dinner on the table. From the way he was walking, Michelle could tell he was quite drunk.

She decided not to go downstairs. Maybe if she didn't he would think that she was out with her Aunt. But it didn't go as she hoped.

"Where is food?" Uncle Bernard's voice came, bellowing from bellow.

Michelle lay still, hoping he would forget what he was mad about. He did that when he was drunk. But he continued to howl and curse.

"Michelle, you dam girl! Get down here and make me food!"

Michelle jumped up and came running down the stairs and into the kitchen. Uncle Bernard stood glaring at her.

"Why is dinner not ready?"

"I didn't know you'd be back so soon," Michelle mumbled.

Uncle Bernard didn't seem to care about that. "I expect dinner to be ready whenever I come home!"

"Yes sir."

Uncle Bernard went into the living room while Michelle began to cook as quickly as she could. She heard the TV turn on and listened to the news reports.

"… a number of owls soaring through the sky lately and during the day time. This has happened once before that we can remember. It was nearly six years ago and the owls seem to be repeated this same behavior."

"Yes and another strange thing. A _purple_ fire spread like crazy across north London, but amazingly, nothing was burned. Eye witnesses say that the fire went write over their homes, but nothing was even charred. Some people that didn't get out of their house said that the flames went onto them, but all they felt was a gentle tickling."

Michelle stopped paying attention here, as Uncle Bernard had come back into the kitchen and was rummaging around in the cupboards. Michelle turned all her thoughts to the dinner. She listened carefully, waiting for when he went away. When all was silent, except for the TV Michelle turned and to her unpleasant surprise, found herself face to face with her uncle. She stepped back quickly. Uncle Bernard was glaring cruelly at her.

"Where are they?" he asked.

"What?" Michelle stammered.

"Where are my bottles?" Uncle Bernard yelled.

"I don't know," Michelle said quickly. "Maybe they are all gone."

"They aren't gone! Give them to me!" and he picked up a chair and threw it against the wall, smashed it to pieces.

Michelle backed up against the wall, her eyes wide with fear. He hadn't been this bad for months.

"You!" Uncle Bernard said, "I hate you! You are nothing but a stupid orphan, eating my food!"

He raised his hand, but Michelle ducked before he could hit her. He roared and raised his hand again. Fear and anger boiled inside Michelle as she dodged another strike. When he raised his hand for the third time, Michelle focused all her anger and fear at him. She glared, her eyes fiery, and when he brought his hand done again he yelled as though he had been hit. He tried to strike again, but every time he raised his hand he felt as though he had been slapped extremely hard.

Michelle was sweating. She had never done anything this bad before. She had never used her, whatever it was, to hurt people.

Finally, Uncle Bernard stopped trying to hit her and stood panting. He stepped closer to Michelle and she inched slightly lower on the wall.

"Get out of here!" he hissed.


	4. Run Away

Chapter 3

Run Away

Michelle grabbed her backpack and climbed out the window. It was the middle of the night and her uncle had fallen asleep on the couch. Michelle knew that he would wake up with a splitting headache and he might not remember that he had even tried to hit her. He probably wouldn't even remember that he had told her to go away, except for the fact that she was gone.

She crept into the yard and into the night, trying to stay as quiet as she could. When she reached the gate something wrapped around her legs. She tripped with a yelp and fell onto her stomach.

"What the?" she called, and then remembered she was trying to be quiet. She looked toward the house to see if the lights were on, but it was completely dark except for the flashing of the TV in the living room.

She looked around to see what had tripped her and saw that it was the little garden snake she had freed earlier.

"Bloody Snake! What was that for?"

"_Don't go!"_

"Yeah, whatever! I have to…" she stared down at the snake in the grass and her eyes widened.

"Er, did you talk?"

The snake didn't say anything. Michelle sighed with relief and started to get up.

"_Take me with you!" _

Michelle fell over again in shock and turned to face the snake. She lay down on her stomach with her face mere inches from the snakes.

"You want to go?" she asked nervously.

The snake nodded.

Michelle sat up quickly and grabbed her hair. "I'm going mad!" she whispered.

"_No. Not mad. I'm mad. I don't want you to go. Take me with you!"_

Michelle stared at the snake and whispered, "Why are you talking?"

The snake tilted his head and answered, _"Ssnakesss have always talked. But only ssspecial people can undersstand." _

"Great! One more reason for people to make fun of me! I can understand snakes! Or maybe I'm just dreaming."

The snake didn't say anything. Michelle stood up and hung her backpack around her shoulder. The snake looked disappointed and stared solemnly at the ground. Michelle sighed and looked toward the horizon. She wanted to get going, especially before her aunt or uncle found out that a snake was talking to her. She turned back to the snake.

"Oh, fine. Come on."

The snake looked up happily and slithered forward. Michelle thought it strange that she didn't find him slipping and sliding around her uncomfortable. Instead she felt a sense of purpose.

When the snake was posed comfortably on her backpack she looked sideways at him and said, "Don't tell anyone that I can talk to you."

"_Don't worry. I believe that they wouldn't undersstand me if I tried. Oh, and by the way, my name is Balthazar"_

"And I'm Michelle."

"_Pleassed to make your acquaintansse."_

"Are snakes always this formal?" Michelle laughed.

"_On firsst meeting, yess."_

"Well, let's get going Bali… Balta… er," Michelle stammered.

"_Just call me Zzar. Everyone doess,"_ the snake hissed.

"Everyone?"

"_Other ssnakesss."_

"Oh."

Michelle found it very strange to have a conversation with a snake. She didn't really want to offend it, but she had no idea what you say and what would be best not to say.

"_Well, asss you ssaid, we better be off."_

"Right," Michelle said.

She set off with Zar and kept walking, not looking back at the home she had known all her life.

"_Where are we going?"_ Zar hissed in Michelle's ear.

Zar had asked this question a million times and Michelle didn't know how to answer. She didn't know where she was going; she just wanted to get away.

"Er, I'm not really sure," she answered.

"_Why did you leave?"_

"Because I had to."

"_Sssso, you are running away."_

"Okay, fine. I'm running away."

They kept going in silence for a minute. Michelle looked up and saw that the sky was getting brighter.

"How long do you think we have been going?" Michelle asked.

"_Probably about ssix or sseven hourss. Do you know where you're going? When do you think your aunt and uncle will sstart looking for you?"_

"Well, I've gone off by myself before so that factor is in our favor. They probably won't look for me until afternoon."

"_And where are you going?" _

"I think, er, London."

"_Yess, London is a good place to disssappear. But how are you going to get there?"_

"We'll take a bus."

"_Do you have any money?"_

"Yes. But where should we go in London?"

"_Tell the buss driver to take you to the darkest part."_

"Zar, you are so weird."

Michelle listened to his hissing laugh and again thought how strange it was to talk to a snake. She found the nearest bus stop and waited for about an hour for one to show up, in which time she and Zar had argued over which foods were better and what they would do when they reached London. When the bus finally came Michelle got on and gave the directions Zar had told her to. The bus driver gave her the strangest look before taking her money. She sat down on a bench and rested her head back. Her legs ached from walking so long.

"_Did you give the driver the instructions?" _

"Of course. You where sitting on my shoulder. Didn't you hear?"

"_I heard. But I couldn't understand what you were saying. You weren't talking to me."_

"Okay," Michelle murmured.

As the bus rumbled on Michelle sighed. She watched everything pass by in the window and before she knew it, she was fast asleep.


	5. Ron's Wish

Chapter 4

Ron's Wish

Harry sat in a chair beside a fire at the Burrow. The whole Weasley clan had been there earlier that day, helping to get the house back in order from everything that had happened in the last few months. Percy hadn't moved back into the house, saying it would be too much of a hassle for everyone, but George had moved back in. He preferred to live with his family then to be alone. Fleur and Bill were now at Shell Cottage and Charlie was staying at the Leaky Cauldron for the time being, until he went back to Romania.

Harry had been invited to stay with the Weasley's while he waited to find a better place to stay. Mrs. Weasley was constantly hinting that the Burrow would keep him happily forever. Hermione was also staying at the Weasley's. She was searching for any sign of her parents so that she could undo the charm she had placed upon them. Apparently they had traveled all over Australia, because she had found their names in many different hotels.

It was now very late at night, or very early in the morning. Everyone else had gone to bed. Harry had crept from Ron's room when he was certain Ron had been out cold and come to have some peace and quiet. Both of these things were very difficult to get at the Weasley home. Even while the family was sleeping, the ghoul above Ron's room was always banging around.

Harry stared into the fire. He had a strange feeling that something terrible was about to happen, something that he couldn't prevent. He hadn't told anyone about it. Harry didn't want to her Hermione scold him or Ron stutter. He had considered telling Ginny, but she would probably just think he was crazy.

A log fell to one side in the fire. Harry glanced at the red embers glowing like lanterns in the night. He half wished that somebody would contact him and give him something to take his mind off his troubles. He'd rather be battling for the death then sitting and pondering if he would ever feel happy again. At least there was some excitement when you dueled.

Harry's eyes began to droop and he realized that he was exhausted. Half of him didn't want to move, but the other half begged to lie down. Harry stood and walked back up the stairs and into Ron's room. Ron didn't even stir as Harry climbed into bed.

When Harry pulled the covers over himself he sighed. At least if he was sleeping he wouldn't think.

"Oi! Wake up mate!"

Harry jerked awake and his hand automatically flue to his wand on the bedside. With the other hand he put on his glasses and looked around, wand raised. For a moment, Harry thought that he was inside the old tent in the middle of winter, listening for the sound of approaching danger. But all he saw was the sunlight shining in his eyes and Ron sitting across from him on his own bed.

Harry quickly put his wand away. Ron looked at him and then seemed to decide that it was best to ignore what had just happened.

"Mum says that breakfast is ready," Ron said, rather quietly.

"Okay," Harry said, pushing the bed covers off and sitting up.

Ron stood and turned toward his bed. Harry started to change into his clothes while Ron did the same. It was strange. They didn't say a word. Normally they would have talked constantly.

Together they combed their hair, Harry wondering if there was a point to brushing his. Harry stared at the spikes and curls mixed all over his head and then looked over at Ron's reflection. To Harry's shook, Ron was completely pale. Harry looked at him firmly and saw little beads of sweat on his forehead. That wasn't all that was strange. Ron was forcefully trying to get his hair straight and even with a lot of water. He was merely making his head look like a mop.

Harry raised his eyebrows and tapped Ron on the shoulder. "Er, mate?"

Ron nearly jumped a foot in the air and almost jabbed the comb into his eye.

"Sorry!" Harry said quickly.

" 'S okay," Ron said glumly, looking at his sopping head in the mirror.

"Ron," Harry began. Ron looked up grumpily through his wet locks. "What are you… I mean, what's wrong?"

"Wrong?" Ron asked awkwardly. "Nothing!" And then he dropped the comb.

Harry stepped forward and picked it up. Ron took it and looked away.

"You sure you're alright?"

"I'm an idiot!" Ron said under his breath.

"What?"

"Why do I think I can do this?"

"Do what?"

Ron sat down on his bed and stared at the floor. He buried his face in his hands and murmured, "Axheriomeout."

"What?"

Ron sat up straight and looked Harry in the eye. "You won't laugh?"

"I swear."

Ron took a deep breath and said, "Ask Hermione out."

Harry almost did laugh. He had been suspecting something great and terrific that Ron wanted to face. But, as usual, it was a girl.

"You asked Lavender."

Ron groaned and lay back on the bed. "Why did you have to bring her up?"

"Sorry."

Harry stared at Ron in silence. Ron was a mess when it came to girls. Harry had an idea, but he was afraid Ron would hate him forever if he mentioned it.

"Ron? I have an idea so that you can ask Hermione and she would say yes for certain."

"Really?" Ron said, sitting up.

"Yeah, but you'll have to trust me."

"Okay!"

"Boys! Come down now!" Mrs. Weasley's voice called up the stairs.

"I'll explain later," Harry said quickly.

Ron got up and walked toward the door.

"Wait! Here," Harry said. He tapped Ron on the head and his hair dried immediately.

"Thanks."

All through breakfast, Ron was a klutz. He wouldn't even glance at Hermione and when she asked him to pass the butter he dropped it in her lap.

Mrs. Weasley got all worried about him and tried to serve him some medicine, but he refused to take it.

After breakfast Harry pulled Ginny aside.

"Ginny, would you do something for me?"

She looked at him with concern and replied, "Yes. What can I help with?"

"I need you to help me help Ron ask Hermione on a date."

Ginny almost burst out laughing. Harry knew it sounded ridiculous. Ron was, after all, nearly eighteen and he still couldn't ask a girl out. Of course, Harry wasn't much better.

Ginny agreed to help, and, with Harry watching quietly, she set to work on a very embarrassed Ron.


	6. Wish Granted

Chapter 5

Wish Granted

"Okay, Ron, you have to stay calm," Ginny said, looking firmly at her older brother.

Harry thought Ron looked anything but calm. Ginny had helped him know what to say and how to say it and what he shouldn't say and what looks he shouldn't give and on and on. Harry could barely remember any of it and he couldn't possibly see how Ron was going to.

Ron seemed to have gained some confidence and he was smiling at Ginny, though a little sourly. A moment ago Ron had come to himself and asked Ginny how she knew everything that she was telling him. Ginny had merely smiled and turned away, but Harry figured that Ron hadn't liked the look in Ginny's eyes. Harry had to admit that he wasn't all that happy about it either. Was she seeing someone? But then why would she have kissed him?

Ginny stepped back and pointed toward the door. "Alright Ron! Get to it!"

Ron fumbled toward the door, smiling happily. Harry followed him down the stairs, but when Ron came to the kitchen door he froze. Hermione was sitting at the table with a book spread in front of her. Harry gave Ron a nudge, then saw that Ron was turning pale again. Ginny, standing just up the stairs, groaned.

Harry gave Ron a bigger shove and Ron took a few awkward steps forward. Hermione didn't look up.

"Er, Hermione?" Ron said in a much higher voice then usual.

"Hmmm?" Hermione replied, not looking up.

Ron looked nervously at Ginny and Harry hiding in the door frame. Ginny nodding encouragingly.

"I was wondering…would… I mean, how's your book?"

Ginny rolled her eyes and Harry smiled. He wondered if Ron was ever going to get through to the point.

Hermione closed the book and looked up at Ron, her eyebrows raised.

"Ronald, what do you want?"

"What?" Ron asked.

Hermione sighed, "You are never interested in what I'm reading."

"No, I am! I want to know!"

Hermione looked at him and then began, "Well, I'm researching more about Australia. I'm trying to track were my parents might be going next so I can catch them and undo the charm."

"Aw," Ron mumbled, clearly not very interested.

"What do you want?" Hermione asked again, this time rather irritably.

Ron swallowed and stepped forward. He cleared his throat and Hermione waited impatiently.

"Are you, er, well, er, going to be reading later?"

Ginny slapped a hand to her forehead as Hermione looked Ron up and down.

"Ron, you of all people know that I will definitely be reading later."

"Well that isn't really what I meant."

"Then what did you mean?"

"I…I, er …you …"

"You know I really should be reading," Hermione said, turning back to her book.

"No! Hermione, will you go out with me?" Ron shouted.

Hermione froze in the act of opening her book. She sat there for a moment, as if trying to realize if Ron had really said it, which was strange because he had yelled it to the whole room.

Finally Hermione turned around, a small smile on her face. "Yes Ron. I'll go out with you."

"Really?" Ron stammered, "I mean, okay. How about tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow is fine."

"Great! Er, we can go to Diagon Alley. Nothing special though. Maybe just hang out."

"Alright," Hermione said. Then to Harry's great surprise, she looked past Ron at him and Ginny. "Is it a group date? Are Harry and Ginny coming too?"

"Er," Ron said turning around.

Harry felt himself blush. Ginny was staring at the floor, looking like she was trying not to laugh. Harry looked up at Ron. Ron had a lopsided frown on his face. He looked at Harry and then slowly nodded.

"Ginny?" Harry began, realizing that his voice was much higher then usual as well. "Will you come to Diagon Alley with me tomorrow?"

Ginny started to laugh, "Yes Harry!"

As Ginny was joined in laughter by Hermione, Harry heard someone else laughing upstairs. Harry looked up and saw George smiling down at him. George hopped down the last steps and landed between Harry and Ron.

"Well! Harry, you are a natural! Ron, I'm surprised Hermione said yes!"

Ron frowned while everyone else laughed. Harry joined in the laughter and soon a smile stretched across Ron's face and he too began laughing.

Once they all gained control George smiled and turned to Ron. "I hope that you four have a good day tomorrow. I myself will be busy in the shop. Lee Jordon said he's coming tomorrow and he might possibly want a job. You four can come in any time, but I'll personally make sure you don't make off with anything you didn't pay for."

Ron glowered at the floor, knowing that there was no point in arguing. Ron had had many disagreements with George about how it wasn't fair that he, his brother, had to pay in the shop, Weasley's Wizards Whizzes. Harry didn't like to think that George permitted Harry anything he wanted in the shop free of charge. When George turned back around, he winked in Harry's direction and bounded back up the stairs.

Ginny, Hermione and Ron began talking about were they would all go the next day. Harry stared off after George. If he'd only finished it sooner, there might have been two red heads jumping up the stairs only a moment ago. Harry sighed and turned back to the table to see Ginny gazing at him, a sad smile on her face. She beckoned him toward and with a heavy heart, Harry made his way to the sides of his friends.


	7. Leaky Cauldron

Chapter 6

The Leaky Cauldron

"_Michelle! Wake up!"_

Michelle jerked awake to discover that she had a horrible knot in her neck. She rolled her head back and winced.

"Are we there?"

"_Yes. Come on. Get up," _Balthazar hissed in Michelle's ear.

Michelle stood and stretched. The sun was fully up now and she made the mistake of looking straight at it. She groaned as it blared into her eyes and she quickly covered them. She really didn't feel very well.

"_Come on! Off the bus! Fresh air will do you good."_

Michelle stumbled forward and finally got off. As the bus pulled away she looked around and discovered that she was in a disgusting alley.

"And why did you want to come here?"

"_Best place to hide."_

"Have you been here before?"

"_No. But I have relatives that have." _

"So what are we doing here?"

"_I already told you. We are hiding."_

Michelle looked about again and saw many garbage bins and old furniture. It was like those places in the movies and she didn't like the feel of it. Or the smell.

"I'm going somewhere else."

"_Suit yourself. But of course, I'm coming with you."_

Michelle trudged out of the alley and into the open street. The street was just like the alley, dark and sinister. Not many people were out and Michelle couldn't blame them.

"You know, I would have preferred getting off somewhere else. Maybe somewhere cleaner."

"_Well, we're here so let us make the best of it."_

Michelle rolled her eyes and began walking away from the darkness. Sometimes she would see street beggars sleeping in rotting blankets. It disturbed her greatly. She quickened her pace whenever she saw one. Michelle soon became extremely tired. It was nearly noon and she had no idea where she was. Her stomach growled and her legs felt like lumps of coal.

She stopped and pulled her backpack off. She sat down on the sidewalk and began eating some of the food she had brought with her. Balthazar helped himself to some and before they new it, they had eaten everything she had brought.

"Great," Michelle said, throwing aside her bag after searching every last corner for more food.

"_We'll just have to find a pub or something."_

"In this part of town? No sir."

Michelle stood and once again began to hike across London.

After a tremendously long time, Michelle and Balthazar came into a brighter part of London. It still wasn't superb, but it was better than "the darkest part".

More people were about here and they seemed more cheerful than the others they had seen. Cars rolled by and bustling shoppers hurried about their business. Some people stood chatting and others, apparently drunk, were singing very off tune in a dark corner of a building.

Michelle hurried forward and walked up to a dark man.

"Excuse me sir? But were would you recommend a place to eat and drink?"

"Aw! You'll want to go right over there!" he said, pointing over to a happy looking place.

"Thank you."

Michelle turned toward the cheery pub and began walking across the street toward it. When she was almost in front of it, out of the corner of her eye she spotted two very strange people. They were both women and were chatting cheerfully. They wore bright, long cloaks of purple and green. Michelle stared hard at them. There seemed to be something special and familiar about them and it intrigued her.

Michelle changed her course and began following the women.

"_Michelle, what are you doing?"_ Zar asked.

"I don't really know."

"_Well then why don't you turn back around?"_

Michelle ignored him and kept close behind the two women. They headed down the street and around a corner. Michelle snuck behind them, Balthazar hissing to her to go back. The women turned right and went into a dark pub.

Michelle stopped and looked at it. It was very old and tattered, nothing like the other one she had passed by. The sign hanging above the door read, _The Leaky Cauldron. _Michelle stared up at it. Balthazar coiled around her arm and gazed into the window of the pub.

"_It doesn't seem bad."_

Michelle pushed open the little door and walked into the pub. The two women were nowhere to be seen. Candles were burning brightly in every corner. Michelle did a double take and realized that they were floating in the air, not supported by anything.

"I am really tired," she whispered to Balthazar.

"_Why do you say that?"_

"Because I'm dreaming."

"_I can assure you that you aren't. I can see everything too."_

Michelle looked sideways at the little snake. "And how many people talk to snakes?"

Zar laughed softly as she walked over to the bar and sat down. A little toothless man came up grinning weirdly. Michelle smiled awkwardly back.

"Aw, what can I get for you?" the little man asked.

"Er," Michelle looked at the little sign behind the man. It had the strangest drinks on it like Butterbeer, Fire Whiskey, and other strange things.

"What would you recommend?" Michelle asked.

"We have very fine Butterbeer today. Ordered some from Madam Rosmerta. We have a trade business now."

Michelle nodded, completely nonplussed. The little man was talking to her as if he saw her everyday. He went of and was back again within seconds, carrying a mug full of steaming liquid. Michelle smelled it warily, and then took a small sip. Warmth coursed through her. It was the most delicious thing she had ever tasted. She drank it greedily while the little man started jabbering away about strange things that she had never heard of in her life. She caught the words Minister of Magic, Death Eaters, and other strange words. She concluded that the man had lost his mind.

When she had finished she set the cup down.

"That will be one sickle and five knuts," the man said, happily.

Michelle stared at him. He clearly was going completely crazy. She handed him some money and turned to leave.

"Miss, I can't accept Muggle money."

Michelle ignored him, wondering what a bloody Muggle was. She continued to walk away, but the little man followed her.

"I can't accept this money!" he called.

When she continued to walk away, he grabbed her arm. She whirled around. She wasn't going to let some mad man boss her around. She let her emotions fill her up, the anger and a small bit of pity. She let it out and the man let go with a yelp.

"Don't touch me!"

Balthazar was hiding in her shirt and he whispered, _"I don't think that was a very good idea."_

Michelle ignored him and went around to the back of the pub as the little man yelled that he had been attacked. She walked faster and ran into another cloaked person. He smiled at her and tapped the back wall with a stick.

Michelle stared in shock as the wall opened up, twisting and turning into an open archway.

"Stop that girl!" a call came from behind her.

Michelle dashed into the archway and gasped as it closed behind her. She had entered a sparkling alley filled with shops and people. She stared about, her mouth gaping at the glittering windows and such. Signs hung about and people bustled by chatting and laughing, holding the strangest objects in the world.

Michelle stumbled forward and people nodded to her, passing by with beaming faces.

"This is so weird."

She walked forward just as the arch opened up and the little man came running out, followed by other tall men in cloaks. Michelle ran forward into the crowd, dodging people and wondering what on earth was going on.


	8. First Encounter

Chapter 7

First Encounter

Harry, Hermione, Ginny and Ron went laughing out of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, a laughing George coming out behind them.

"Alright," he said, "you lot better clear off now. You're taking my attention from other customers. Harry, mate, enjoy your stuff."

George went bustling back into the store in time to holler at a little boy who was setting off some fireworks.

"Okay Harry!" Ron said excitedly, "Let's get away from the window."

They all went off down the road, passing Knock Turn Alley. Harry looked down it with disgust then quickly followed his friends down another street.

Once they were further away from George's shop, Ron turned and held out his hand, looking as though Christmas had come early. Ginny and Hermione exchanged looks and then turned away from each other, trying not to laugh.

Since Harry had a free range of everything in the store, he had offered to take something for each of his friends, without George's permission of course. Ron had wanted to clear off every shelf, but Harry had said only one thing.

Harry opened the bag and pulled out the Headless Hat that Ron had chosen. Ron put it on right away and his head disappeared. Ron's invisible mouth laughed.

"How do I look?" he said, turning to Hermione.

Hermione giggled. She grabbed Ron and hit the hat off his head. It fell to the ground and she stepped back examining him. "Much better," she said. "I like you better when I can see your face."

Ron blushed and bent over to get the hat. He turned to Harry, "I know it's nothing like your cloak, but it will be good to scare people in the dark. Especially mum."

"She won't be very happy about that," Ginny said, taking her gift from Harry.

It was a little purple Pigmy-Puff to be a friend to Arnold, the one she already had.

Ron leaned over. "Why'd you get a girl? Arnold is a boy."

"I know that perfectly well, Ronald," Ginny said. "I'm hoping that they will have a baby."

Ron wrinkled his nose and Hermione frowned.

"But Ginny," Hermione said, "they can't have a baby. It isn't possible because they're man made. They won't have any chance of breeding."

"Who says?" Ginny asked, frowning.

"Science says."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "We can give it a shot. They might just be good friends," Ginny said, lifting the little cage up to her eyes so she could take a closer look. The Pigmy-Puff came scurrying over to Ginny as she stuck her finger between the bars.

"What did you get Hermione?" Ron asked, his Headless Hat on once more.

"I didn't get anything."

"Oh, come off it!"

"No. I didn't get anything."

"Why not?"

"Because I didn't find anything of value that I wanted," Hermione said.

Harry smiled, "Actually, Hermione, I got you a Pigmy-Puff too. I heard you saying that you wanted one."

Harry pulled out a cage with a little red Pigmy-Puff in it.

Hermione beamed, "Thank you Harry!"

"Well, we need to come up with names for them," Ginny said.

"How about Lavender for yours Ginny?" Ron asked, taking off his hat.

Hermione shot him a cruel look and he dropped his hat. "I'm just joking Hermione! Shish! And you saved her life you know!"

That was true. Hermione had saved Lavender Brown during the Battle of Hogwarts. But Ron's comment didn't seem to please her.

"You think that just because she snogged you I would let her be killed!"

"No!" Ron said.

Ginny interrupted them, "What's going on over there?"

Cloaked men were running through the crowd.

"Isn't that Tom?" Hermione asked, standing on her tiptoes.

"Looks like it," Harry replied.

"I wonder what they're doing," Ron said, tucking his hat in his pocket.

Ginny got a happy gleam in her eyes. "Sounds like something the mysterious three are going to find out about. But this time, I'm going with you."

"Probably isn't anything interesting. Nothing exciting. At least not after everything else," Harry said.

At that moment he was knocked to the ground.

"Hey!" Ron yelled, grabbing his wand as the girl who had just run into Harry stood up and tried to run again.

Harry grabbed her ankle and she fell to the ground.

"What was that for?" she yelled at him. "I didn't mean to hit you!"

Then she turned to her back and whispered, "What is it with people and pointing sticks at you here?"

Harry stood up and held out his hand to her, not noticing how Ron, Hermione, and Ginny exchanged nervous looks. The girl took his hand and stood up, brushing the dirt off herself, though it didn't work well. She was covered in mud.

"They aren't sticks. Don't you know that? They're wands."

"Now I really know I'm dreaming. What is going on? Everybody keeps talking as if this is magic!"

Harry looked confused and said, "But it is magic."

The girl stepped back and stared at him. There eyes met and the strangest thing happened. Harry felt as though he was soaring into them. They grew and he saw in his mind a tall dark figure, bent over a bundle on the ground.

The next moment, Harry stood clutching the wall breathing deeply. The girl was holding her stomach and she looked pale, her eyes wide.

"Magic," she whispered.

Down the alley a little ways the cloaked men were running about. The girl looked at them and quickly turned and ran. Before Harry could say another word, she disappeared around a corner. He stood still, staring at the place she had gone remembering how he had gone deep into her mind. It was like Occlumency. But he hadn't even been doing it on purpose.

Harry became aware that Ginny was squeezing his arm. "Harry?"

He shook his head slowly and then looked over at Ginny.

"Yeah?"

"What were you talking about? You and that girl."

"She wanted to know…" Harry looked at Ginny carefully, "You were right here. Didn't you hear?"

Harry looked at Hermione, Ron and Ginny. They all looked worried or scared.

"I heard Harry," Ginny whispered, "but I didn't understand. Both of you were speaking in Parseltongue."


	9. Familiar

Chapter 8

Familiar

Michelle continued to run, rubbing her elbows after her fall. These people were completely crazy! Wands! Magic! It was a fake!

"Zar, I'm going insane."

He didn't answer and she figured that he agreed with her. She ran faster until she reached a different alley. It was extremely dark and it stank. Michelle looked behind her and didn't see anyone. In fact the whole alley seemed deserted.

She stopped running and began walking slowly, catching her breath. Finally she leaned against a wall a closed her eyes, wondering what on earth she was going to do. She couldn't go home. She didn't even know where home was anymore.

"_Michelle? That boy back there… the one you crashed into…"_

"Hey! I didn't mean to! He was the one that tripped me!"

"_And you need to let me finish what I was saying,"_ Zar said simply.

Michelle rolled her eyes and slumped lower on the wall until she was crouching next to the ground. She stared at it, noticing how there had to be years and years of dirt and mold covering it. It was completely filthy.

"Where are we?"

"_I wouldn't have a clue except for the fact that I saw a sign on the way that called it Knock Turn Alley."_

"Knock Turn. Strange. Then again, everything I've seen so far has been strange. Butterrum,"

"_I do think it was Butterbeer,"_ Zar interrupted.

"What ever. And all the people in those weird clothes claiming they can do magic and that they carry wands around."

"_Why don't you believe in magic?"_

Michelle looked at the snake sternly, "Because that sort of thing is inconceivable! It's ludicrous!"

Zar looked thoughtful. _"And you wouldn't call talking to snakes, beating your uncle with invisible hands or cleaning the whole house using your feelings magic?"_

Michelle stared across the alley, lost in thought. The things she did were very strange, but she had never really considered it being called magic. As she considered everything, more deeply then any other time in her life, a knotted fear began to inch it's way into her mind. She was completely different then any other person she'd ever meet, except for the people she had seen today. When she had been running through the street she had seen the strangest things happening in the alley.

"_As I was saying Michelle, that boy back there, I could understand what he was saying."_

Michelle looked at the snake. "I thought you couldn't understand what other people say."

"_That's just it. I've never understood another human besides you, and now that boy. There was something different about him."_

"Zar, I think there was something different about every person back there, if you take my meaning."

Zar hissed, laughing, _"I agree. But that boy, he had something that the others didn't. It was so…"_ he trailed off.

"Strange," Michele finished. She sat still for a while then began, "Er, one other thing. When that boy looked into my eyes I felt like I was hurtling through time. And then I saw a tall dark figure, looking at a small baby. The baby was crying and… there was a flash of green light."

"_What else?"_

"Nothing. That was all. Except… this strange feeling that I'd seen that tall person before. And something else flashed through my eyes. Another baby, another figure."

Michelle didn't tell Zar, but she had the feeling that the tall, dark figure in front of both baby's was the same person. And she was certain that she had to find out who he was. She also knew that she had to find that dark haired boy again.


	10. Letters From School

Chapter 11

Chapter 9

Letters From School

Harry laid his head back on Ron's bed and closed his eyes. He had just told Hermione, Ron, and Ginny what had happened in Diagon Alley with the strange girl. They were all staring at him, Ron looking puzzled, Hermione looking worried, and Ginny staring blankly at the floor. It had been strange telling Ginny along with Ron and Hermione. Ginny was usually kept out of their private conversations, but Ginny had been there and had heard him speaking in Parseltongue.

Harry looked up and said, "You're certain that I spoke…"

"Harry, we're certain. That is the fifteenth time you've asked that in the last four hours," Ginny said, rolling her eyes and looking Harry in the face. "Do you think we'd lie to you about something like that?"

They were all silent, each lost in their own thoughts. Harry stretched his legs out, staring at his feet. He was certain that he had done Occlumency, though he hadn't meant to. He'd done magic on accident before, but he thought that he had to be feeling loss, or love, in order to do Occlumency. Harry thought back to that afternoon, wondering what he had been feeling. He had felt urgent when Ron had grabbed his wand and had instinctively grabbed the girl. He thought harder. What else had he felt? He had been feeling sad in the shop at the absence of Fred, but other then that he couldn't remember. But in a way, the girl had reminded him of someone he'd seen before. She seemed so familiar that Harry felt angry that he couldn't pinpoint why. He smacked himself on the head.

"What's up?" Ron asked.

Harry looked at him. "It's just that I'm certain I've seen her before, or someone that looks like her."

Ron contemplated this, then answered, "Well, she didn't seem like she was much older than us. Maybe she went to Hogwarts."

"I was thinking about that," Hermione said from on top of Ron's bed, "but she couldn't have been in our year. We had at least four or five classes with everyone in our year and she definitely wasn't in any of them."

"Was she in your year, Ginny?" Ron asked.

"Absolutely not," Ginny answered, "but she did look extremely like someone I've meet."

Harry sat up straighter. "I didn't think she looked much like anyone I've seen at Hogwarts. I think I've seen her somewhere else, though. Who do you think she is, Ginny?"

Ginny's face screwed up. "I don't really know right now. I can't remember, but her face seemed so familiar."

"I thought I'd seen her before as well, but it was a small recognition," Hermione said.

"What about you, Ron?" Ginny asked.

He shrugged. "She looked a little familiar, but a very little."

"It's strange. You talk to a peculiar girl in Parseltongue, see into her mind or something, all of us think she is familiar, but none of us know who she is," Hermione pondered. "What did you see again, Harry?"

Harry sighed and recited, "A tall, cloaked figure standing over a small bundle, which I think was a baby."

Hermione looked at Harry nervously, and then said quickly, "I'm sorry, Harry, but I have to ask you… do you think it might have been Voldemort and you on the night…"

"The night my parents were murdered?" Harry finished. "It couldn't be. I've seen that exactly the way it happened. Besides, I was inside that night and this baby was outside. And how would that girl trigger something like that?"

"Who knows?" Ron sighed, rubbing his hand through his hair. A rumble then filled the room and Ron looked down at his stomach. "Well, maybe we can talk about this later. I'm really hungry. I wonder what mom made."

"You ought to learn how to cook, Ronald," Hermione scorned. "It might come in handy someday."

"Don't we all know that now, Hermione," Ron sighed.

Ginny stood up. "Let's go down. If mum's not done then we can help her."

They all followed Ginny out of Ron's room, down the stairs, and into the kitchen. Mrs. Weasley was busy waving her wand at cupboards and at the stove, where a spoon was stirring soup by itself.

"Can we help at all, Mrs. Weasley?" Harry asked.

Mrs. Weasley looked up. "Oh, how sweet of you, Harry, dear. I would not mind a little help at all."

Hermione smiled, took out her wand, and waved it at a drawer. Spoons, forks, and knifes came soaring toward the table. Then they spun in a circle until there was a set of silverware hovering over every place. They floated down delicately and landed perfectly in position. Harry began bewitching plates to do the same thing Hermione had done, though it was not as neat or as silent. Ron then whipped out his wand and cups came soaring out of a cupboard. Harry had to duck as they flew toward his head, then came crashing down on the table. One fell to the floor and shattered. Ron winced and looked over at his mother.

"Just fix it Ron," she nodded.

Ron quickly fixed the glass and set it back on the table. Hermione smiled and turned to help more. Ron looked at her and whispered, "See, Hermione. I'm no good at this sort of stuff. You're so much better then I am that all I ever do is embarrass myself."

"Oh, Ron," Hermione sighed, though she smiled slightly.

Ginny watched all of this from a corner, laughing at Harry's and Ron's attempts to be as good as Hermione was.

Mrs. Weasley set the last dish on the table and said quickly, "All right, settle down. Arthur should be home in one minute or so."

At that moment, the magical clock that stood behind Mrs. Weasley chimed and Mr. Weasley's hand went to traveling, and then stopped on home. "Get the door, Ron!"

Ron bustled over and opened the door as Arthur Weasley came in the door, an amused expression on his face. Everyone burst out laughing, for on Mr. Weasley's head sat an owl, and four more were sitting on his arms, which he had sticking straight out in front of him.

"Hello family! These guests arrived at the same time I did."

The owl on Mr. Weasley's head fell off and hit the floor with a resounding 'thunk'.

"Oh, Errol!" Ginny sighed, exasperatedly.

The owl lifted his head and then set it down again. Mr. Weasley pulled the letter off of the bird's foot. "Oh, it's a reply from Hagrid, Molly!"

"What's he say?"

"Let's get these other owls off me first," Mr. Weasley chuckled.

Ginny stood and looked at the owl sitting on his left shoulder. "It's my Hogwarts letter!" she said. She pulled the letter off and began opening it.

"What are the other owls for?" Ron asked.

"Don't know," Mr. Weasley shrugged. "But get them off me."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione each plucked an owl from Mr. Weasley and looked at them.

"This is for you, Harry," Hermione said, handing it to him.

Harry smiled. "That ones for you," he said. They exchanged letters.

"Hey!" Ron said. "Mine's from Hogwarts!"

Mrs. Weasley looked up. "What?"

"Mine is, too!" Harry said.

"So's mine!" Hermione squeaked.

They all stared at each other. Hermione's eyes widened. "But we didn't take N.E.W.T's. Why are they sending us letters?"

"I don't know," Ron said.

Hermione gasped. "What if they made it so it actually goes on our grade? What if, even though we weren't there they scored us anyway? Every chance we ever had is gone!"

"Calm down, Hermione! Just read the letter!" Ginny said.

"I can't!"

"I'll do it," Harry said, ripping his envelope open.

_Dear Mr. Potter,_

_We are pleased to inform you that this year, Hogwarts is allowing all those who were not able to attend Hogwarts or do not feel that they received the information they wanted during the last school year to come back to school and complete it. It is your decision, but we want you to know that you are welcome. _

_If you choose to attend, the Hogwarts Express will leave from Platform Nine and Three Quarters at 11:00 sharp as usual. Enclosed is the book list you need if you are attending._

_Hoping to see you this year, _

_Pomona Sprout_

_Deputy Headmistress_

A huge smile spread across Harry's face. "It's okay guys. You can read them. There's nothing in them about N.E.W.Ts, well, not exactly."

Hermione and Ron both ripped their letters open and read them. Harry could tell that Hermione read it more then once, her eyes whizzing across the page. Ron dropped his letter on the table when he was done and turned to Harry.

"Well, how about that?" Ron said.

Mrs. Weasley stepped forward and picked up Ron's letter while Ron began murmuring away to Harry. "That's really nice of Hogwarts to do that for people, but for me, I think I learned enough don't you?"

Harry smirked. Ron had been teasing and gloating to Ginny for weeks now about how they didn't have to go back to Hogwarts and how she still had to. Harry knew that Ron could use a bit more schooling, as, he thought, he himself could too.

"Oh, you've learned enough have you?" Mrs. Weasley said. "Well, Ron, I hate to tell you, but I think that you should go back. And if I have anything to do about it, you will go back."

"Mum!" Ron groaned.

Harry looked over at Hermione. She was still staring at her letter. "Hermione?"

She looked up and Harry was horror struck to see that her eyes were very wet.

"What's wrong, Hermione?" Ron asked. Just then she burst into tears, covering her face in her hands. As always, Ron jumped forward and put his arm around her.

"Oh, oh, oh!" Hermione sobbed into his shoulder. "I want to go back desperately! I want to finish school, but … but…" and she shuddered and sobbed harder onto Ron.

"What is it Hermione?" Mr. Weasley asked, pulling up a chair and sitting opposite her.

Hermione took a shaky breath and then answered, "It's my parents! They're still in Australia and I've been trying to locate then, but I haven't yet and if I go back to school I might not find them and… they'll never know they have a daughter!" she sobbed.

Mrs. Weasley took Hermione's hand and squeezed it. "Hermione, calm down dear. I'm sure that we will find your parents. They can't have gone too far."

"Mum," Ginny said, "didn't you hear? They're in Australia."

Mrs. Weasley made shushing movements to Ginny, who was quiet immediately. Mr. Weasley scooted his chair closer to Hermione and leaned in toward her. Ron looked rather smashed, as he was holding Hermione and was surrounded by everyone. Harry had to look away so he wouldn't laugh.

"Hermione, the Order doesn't have as much to do anymore, unless you count regular work and rounding up the last Death Eaters. Maybe I can get some of them on the job to find your parents. It's all part of healing the wounds left behind."

A silence fell on the group. It seemed to Harry that everyone glanced up at him before looking back at Hermione. He looked down, wondering if they were angry at him.

"Could … could you really do that?" Hermione asked.

Mr. Weasley smiled. "Yes, Hermione. I think that we can definitely do that. Then you parents can be found, their brains set to right, and sent home, where you can see them on holiday."

Hermione stopped crying and stood up. "In that case, we better get ready. The first of September is almost here!" And she turned and headed up the stairs, followed by a beaming Ginny. They were half way up when Hermione turned around. "Ron, come on! You heard your mum!"

Ron frowned and started trudging up the stairs grimacing at Harry, who tried not to laugh. Ginny moved aside to let Ron pass and then jumped back down the stairs. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were discussing the next school year and Ginny motioned Harry over to her. Harry walked over, still smiling about Ron.

Ginny took Harry's hand and lead him into the other room. She turned to him and Harry's smile disappeared. Ginny was gazing at him, a worried and almost scared expression on her face. "Er, Harry, I know that now you're out of school and that you don't have any parents to make you go back, but, well, I was just wondering if maybe you could, er… sort of stay away from other girls, er, if you get my meaning. You don't have too of course! But, I mean, there are lots of girls that would love to go out with you and, well, now you'll have more time …"

Harry started to laugh. He couldn't help it. It seemed like such a ridiculous thing to ask. Apparently, Ginny didn't think so. She looked down and whispered, "Sorry, I shouldn't have asked you. Of course you'll want to go out with girls."

Harry stopped laughing abruptly, realizing that, Ginny had taken his laughter the wrong way. He cursed himself, knowing that he still had a lot to learn about how to behave around girls. "No, Ginny, I wasn't laughing because I want to date girls. I just thought it was funny that you should ask. And any way, what would I do here by myself while you, Ron and Hermione go back to Hogwarts?"

Ginny's face brightened. "You mean you're going to come back to school?"

"Yep. Hogwarts is my favorite place in the world, besides the Burrow."

Ginny smiled and threw her arms around Harry. Harry smoothed her hair beneath his hand and smiled happily. This year he would be free of his worries and just get to be a normal kid going to school.


	11. Encounter with Wizards

Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Encounter with Wizards

Michelle awoke to find herself lying on the ground. Her back hurt from the hard ground and she was covered in dirt. She groaned and sat up slowly. Looking around she saw that it was early morning. In the light she could see more of the alley. Many of the shops were boarded up. It didn't look like people ever came here. Michele stood up and walked to one of the shop windows, peaking in through the grim. It was to dark to see anything.

"_I wonder what happened to this place,"_ Zar said. He was on the ground, slithering here and there, leaving marks in the dust.

Michelle turned away from the window. "I don't think it was a pleasant place." She stared at the filthy walls for a moment. "Look! There are drawings on this wall."

She crossed to the other side and began drawing her finger along the lines carved into it. She read them softly. "The Dark Lord Lives."

"_I wonder what that means."_

"I don't know but it sure is creepy. How do we get out of here?"

But just then, Michelle heard footsteps echoing down the empty alleyway. She ducked into the shadow and stared as two people turned around the corner. They were both tall, with sleek, blonde hair and sharp profiles. She stared at them as they came closer.

"See, Draco. The place is abandoned. The Dark Lord's realm is over. I knew it would end."

The taller man was speaking, staring at the other person, a boy that looked about Michelle's age.

"Father? We are not loyal to him, are we?"

"No, Draco. The marks we bare on our arms our but reminders of how the Dark Lord almost tore are family apart."

The boy called Draco stopped in his tracks. "But, what if he returns? What if he manages to come back?"

The taller man turned and stared hard into Draco's face. "Then we shall hide."

"But he'll find us, father! You know that!"

"Silence!" the man yelled, and it echoed across the alley. His voice changed into an abrupt whisper. "The Dark Lord will not return. Potter has made sure of that."

Michelle noticed how the man spoke the name Potter with disgust.

Draco murmured, "Potter is still a half-blood, with his mud-blood mother and friends. I still hope I live to see the day when he is finished."

Suddenly, the taller man pulled one of the sticks, or wands out from his dark robes and pointed it at his son. "Never speak those words in public, Draco, or the Ministry will be after us. We will end up in the same place as the other Death Eaters. My opinion on our blood will always stay the same. I will never be a Muggle lover, but no one must know that, Draco, no one!"

"Yes father," Draco answered.

The man put the wand back inside his cloak. "Come; let us leave this place of unwanted memories."

But to Michelle's horror, Draco was staring right at her. His eyes were wide and looked almost hungry. She tried to back into the shadows, but he had whipped out his wand and had it pointing at her.

"Father! It's the girl in the Prophet! The one that was running amok in Diagon Alley yesterday!"

The taller man whipped around, his wand also pointing at Michelle. She let out a squeak of horror as they stepped closer.

"Ah! I do believe that there was a reward for her capture and return to the Ministry. They, of course, don't want people to be afraid that she is a Death Eater."

Michelle suddenly found her voice and she said loudly, "I am no Death Eater! I don't even know what that is. But I don't believe in magic! I don't believe you have wands and I don't believe you are wizards!"

If Michelle had known anything about these wizards that was the last thing she would have said.

"She's a Muggle!" Draco shouted. "How did she get in here?"

"I don't know, Draco, but I'm sure the Ministry will be pleased to here that the Malfoys have found a Muggle wandering around inside our world. They'll want to take care of her memory. You can have the pleasure, Draco."

Draco turned his eyes onto Michelle. He pointed his wand at her, but as he stared at her, he froze. His eyes became huge, not at all like when he had first laid eyes on her, but with fear.

"No," he whispered.

"Fine!" his father yelled. "I'll do it you coward!"

"Father! Wait!"

But the man had already turned toward Michelle, raised his wand, and yelled, "Stupefy!"

Suddenly, Michelle's word went black.


	12. A Muggle at the Ministry

Chapter 10

Chapter 10

A Muggle at the Ministry

Harry jerked awake, sticky with sweat. He glanced over at Ron and saw that he was still fast asleep. Harry got out of bed, pulling his robe on and tiptoed out of the room. As he walked through the hallway, he glanced out the window. The sun was coming up over the horizon. Harry trotted down the stairs and saw Mr. and Mrs. Weasley sitting at the table, chatting happily. For a split second, Harry wondered why Mr. Weasley wasn't at work, and then he realized that it was Saturday. When Mrs. Weasley saw Harry, she jumped up.

"Harry! I didn't expect you to wake up for an hour or so. Everyone else is still in bed. I can make you an egg or toast if you'd like."

"No thanks, Mrs. Weasley," Harry smiled. "I just need a glass of water."

Harry walked to the cupboard and pulled out a glass. He didn't bother using the sink. He simply tapped it with his wand and it filled itself. While he drank, he stared out the window worriedly. He had just had a dream. It had been a very strange one. He'd been laying in a dark alley, listening to Draco Malfoy and his father, Lucius, talking. He hadn't been completely surprised by what he had heard. He knew that the Malfoys had never liked him, and he and never thought well of them at all. But Harry wondered if he had really overheard a conversation, like he used to do when he'd see Voldemort's thought, or if had simply been a dream. But then why had he said, and in a girl's voice too, that he was a Muggle? And if the dream was real and there was a Muggle running around in the wizard world, then that was definitely bad. But it might be worse now. After all, the girl seemed to be in the hands of the Malfoys, the biggest bunch of Muggle haters Harry knew.

But it couldn't be possible that it was real. The person definitely was not Voldemort, and Harry had only ever been able to be in Voldemort's mind. He couldn't just see what any Muggle was thinking.

Suddenly, Harry froze. He had met a girl that had known nothing about magic, and she had been in Diagon Alley. She had spoken Parseltongue and Harry had somehow seen something when he was looking at her. It had been like when he'd been in Voldemort's mind. Somehow the girl had ended up in Knockturn Alley. The Malfoys thought she was a Muggle and they were going to take her to the Ministry to have her mind wiped. But they couldn't wipe away the fact the she had spoken a language that only wizards can speak. She wasn't a Muggle, she was a witch.

"Arthur!" a frantic voice called.

Harry whirled around to see Mr. and Mrs. Weasley both running into the other room. Harry ran after them and saw the Minister of Magic's, Kingsley Shacklebolt's, head sitting in the fire place.

"Arthur! We need you to come here as fast as you can. Everyone is going crazy! The Malfoys found a Muggle girl wandering around in Diagon Alley," Harry stared at the Minister in shock as he continued. "It's the girl that stole from the Leaky Cauldron. She got into our world. I myself don't know what to do. This has never happened in our entire history, not since we went into hiding. We need you to come and talk to her. She is terribly frightened and she won't speak to anyone. You seem to have a way with Muggles. Maybe you can speak to her. We need to find out what she knows so we can properly erase her memory. But I have to rush. Some people are very afraid and they want to force her to speak. We can't allow that. Even the Muggleborns are going nuts and they won't talk to her."

"I'll follow right after you!" Mr. Weasley said, throwing on a cloak.

Harry jumped forward. "Minister, Mr. Weasley, I'm sorry I overheard, but maybe I can help. I've grown up with Muggles and I think I can talk to her. And it might help that I'm dressed like a Muggle. She might be more comfortable talking to me." Harry knew very well that he was in pajamas and that might be very strange to the girl, but maybe she would recognize him. She had spoken to him before so maybe she would speak to him again.

"Harry, that is a wonderful idea," Kingsley said. "I wish I'd thought of it earlier. Just wait until the Prophet gets a hold of this."

Mrs. Weasley murmured, "Oh, Harry, you are so kind! Let me get you a cloak."

"There's no time, Molly!" Arthur said, grabbing a handful of Floo Powder as Kingsley's head disappeared.

"I'll ware my robe, Mrs. Weasley," Harry said quickly, because she looked like she was going to argue that he would catch cold.

Mrs. Weasley sighed, "Alright. Do be careful, won't you."

Mr. Weasley vanished into the fireplace as he yelled, "Ministry of Magic!"

Harry stepped up afterward and was about to step in when Mrs. Weasley gave him a giant hug and murmured, "Don't do anything dangerous, Harry!"

"I'll be careful," Harry said reassuringly. He stepped into the fire, yelled, "Ministry of Magic!" and was heading twirling forward in a swirl of ashes and smoke.


	13. The Minister

Michelle awoke suddenly

Chapter 12

The Minister

Michelle awoke suddenly. She was lying on a couch and she looked around the room. The first thing she noticed was that there were more strange people here and that they were all staring at her. The second thing she noticed was that some of them were pointing their wands at her. The third, Balthazar was gone. And then she saw the blonde haired man and his son standing to one side. The taller man was holding a sack of gold. She immediately sat up and began to stand.

"Whoa!" one of the people said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Calm down!"

Michelle jerked away from him and backed up, only to crash into another person. They grabbed her and Michelle did the only thing she thought of. She reached up and punched the person in the face.

"Ow!"

They had dropped her. Michelle ran for the door and yanked hard on it. It wouldn't budge. She saw no lock.

"Let me out!" she shouted. None of the people moved. "Let me out! I want to get out of here."

"We can go as soon as you tell us what you saw last night," a tall black man said.

"Why?" Michelle asked suspiciously.

"Minister, why don't we just do it? We could just modify her memory on the spot."

"No," the black man said firmly. "We could miss something important. I don't want any of our secrets told to the muggle world because we were careless."

Michelle could tell that the black man, apparently the minister, held lot's of power. "Sir, please, let me leave. I won't tell anyone anything. Just let me leave."

The man stared at her. "I'm afraid we can not just let you leave. You have seen too much of our world. Just tell us what you saw or heard and then we will take you home."

"No!" Michelle yelled. She couldn't let these people take her back to her aunt and uncle's. Her uncle would probably murder her.

"Minister, we can force her to tell."

The minister got very angry at that remark. "That is the last thing we want to do! We can not use magic in that way!" He took a deep breath. "Someone just needs to talk to her. Convince her we mean no harm."

"Excuse me," Michelle said angrily, "I am standing right here. I can hear you. And if you meant me no harm then you wouldn't have brought me here. This is kidnapping!" Michelle glared at the tall blonde man.

"Luscious, I think it would be best I you left now. Thank you for your time, but you are just making the girl nervous now."

The blonde man smiled, "You're right Minister. Draco and I will just go home now. I'm sorry we can't be of more help."

"Thank you for bringing her to us." The way the Minister said this made Michelle think that the two men did not like each other very much.

Luscious smiled silkily. "Of course. It was the best thing to do."

Luscious left the room and Michelle stared at the Minister, wondering what he was going to do.

"Can any of you try to talk to her? I'm going to get Arthur Weasley." The Minister swept from the room.

Michelle looked at the other people. They were all adults, but none of them seemed able to talk to her. An older woman came forward, opened her mouth, but then stepped back again, blushing. The room was silent, but Michelle didn't let her guard down. She began thinking about how she could make her escape. There was a window, but Michelle figured it was locked, just like the door. Maybe when the Minister came back into the room, she could run out while the door was still open. She began easing her way closer to the door. She was a few feet from it when it opened and the Minister walked in. This time he wasn't alone. A red haired man followed him.

Michelle didn't think twice. She darted forward. There was a shout from behind her, but she didn't stop. She was just about to bolt through the door when she came face to face with someone. She stepped back a few paces and stared at the boy she had meet before. "You!"


	14. The Second Encounter

Chapter 13

The Second Encounter

"Er…" Mr. Weasley stammered, "Harry, do you know this young lady?"

"We meet briefly," Harry answered. He didn't bother telling them that he had tripped the girl, or that she had crashed into him. Apparently the girl didn't want them to know this either. A smile seemed to tug at the corners of her lips at Harry's simple reply.

"Aw, well, that might help the situation. It was good of you to come Potter," Kingsley said.

Harry observed that the girl did a double take when Kingsley called him Potter. No one else seemed to notice.

"Let us leave Arthur and Harry to talk to her," Kingsley said.

Some of the ministry members looked like they were going to protest, but Kingsley gave them a stern look and they followed after him, though some of them glared at the girl as they left.

Mr. Weasley smiled at the girl and reached his hand out toward her. "Hello! I'm Arthur Weasley. What is your name?"

She drew back, looking as though she was afraid Mr. Weasley was going to hit her.

"He won't hurt you," Harry said, making sure that he was speaking English. He didn't hear any hiss, so he was pretty sure he had accomplished that much.

"Sure he won't!" she said sarcastically. "They were all talking about hurting me!" She stepped further back. "All adults do is hurt you."

"Now, now" Mr. Weasley said, "I would never hurt you, as Harry here said."

The girl didn't look at all reassured. Harry knew what he had to do. He gently tugged on Mr. Weasley's arm and whispered, "Mr. Weasley, maybe it would be better if I talked to her…alone. We've meet before and, well, I do know more about muggles then you do."

"I admit it," Mr. Weasley replied. "I'll just step outside the door."

When he had done so, the girl came out of the shadows, staring hard at Harry as though she was trying to see through him. Harry smiled, trying to make her feel comfortable.

"Well, I might as well introduce myself properly. I'm Harry Potter." He extended his hand as Mr. Weasley had done, but this time, the girl slowly took it.

"I'm Michelle."

She didn't tell him her last name and he wasn't going to pry. What her last name was wasn't his business. Harry was wondering what to say next, when Michelle stated, "I've heard of you."

"What?" Harry stared. How would a Muggle know about him?

"Yeah," Michelle said, "those two guys that brought me here were talking about you before they found me. They just referred to you as Potter, though."

"I know," Harry said with a sigh. "I've never been on good terms with the Malfoys."

"Yes, they didn't seem to like you very much," Michelle said. "They were talking about a Dark Lord and how you got rid of him."

Again, Harry sighed. This had been the same conversation that he heard in his dream. So it was real. It hadn't been just a strange dream.

"Look," the girl said suddenly, "I've been wanting to find you and talk to you since we …er, sort of meet. I want to know…well, magic…er."

Harry smiled. "Magic is real. And I don't know if this will surprise you, but I think you've got some of it."

This didn't seem to surprise Michelle at all. She just stared at him and Harry wondered what she would do when next. But she didn't do anything. She seemed to be waiting for Harry to speak first.

"Er, I think you are a witch," he said slowly.

"A witch," Michelle whispered. "Magic?"

Harry nodded, hoping she wasn't going to pass out or something. Maybe he should have broken it to her in a better way.

"It's magic, what I can do?" she asked in a slightly hoarse voice.

"I think so," Harry said slowly. "But what is it you can do exactly?"

Michelle took a deep breath, staring at Harry warily. It looked as though she was deciding whether to trust him or not. Harry tried to give her an encouraging smile. She blinked once, then whispered, "I can do a lot of things. I can make things move without even putting a finger on them. I can use my emotions to control things. I've even used it to hurt people that tried to hurt me."

Harry stared at Michelle. There was something about this conversation that sent a chill up his bones, something he couldn't quite pinpoint. He felt as if he was repeating something he'd already done. But what?

Harry was brought back to earth when he saw Michelle staggering toward the couch. She sat down, trembling slightly.

"A witch?" she asked again. "I always knew I was different. But this… magic." She looked back at Harry. She looked at Harry. "Then are you a … a wizard, or something?"

"Yeah," Harry replied. "Yeah, I'm a wizard."

"And you can do magic?" Michelle asked. Her eyes darkened suspiciously. "Could you show me?"

"Er…" Harry paused. "I guess so." He pulled his wand out and thought a spell that can to his mind. "_Levicorpus_!"

Michelle suddenly shrieked and flew upside down into the air. Harry gasped. "Oh, ah! I'm sorry! I just… sorry." He thought the counter-jinx and Michelle came tumbling back down onto the couch. She clutched at it as though it had just saved her life. "Sorry," Harry said again, feeling very stupid. Of all the spells that he knew, he had to pick that one.

"What exactly did you do?" Michelle asked, sitting up carefully, still clutching at a cushion.

"A nonverbal spell," Harry answered. "Levicorpus. It does, well, you should know what it does."

"Jerks people who aren't expecting it into the air," Michelle said firmly, glaring at Harry.

He shrugged guiltily. "Sorry. I didn't mean to."

Michelle rolled her eyes. "Sure, sure." Her eyes fell on his wand. She pointed at it. "Where can I get one of those wand thingys?"

"Er, you have to buy one," Harry replied.

Michelle seemed to deflate in front of his eyes. "Oh."

"What?"

"I haven't got any money," Michelle said, staring at the ground.

Harry didn't really know what to say. He would have said that Hogwarts could provide money for her, but the problem was, she looked far to old to go to Hogwarts. She had to be at least his age. Harry wondered, if Michelle was a witch, why had she never gotten a Hogwarts letter? Or had she, but not gone? Maybe her parents wouldn't let her.

"Hey, I was just wondering," Harry asked. "When you were about oh, say eleven, did you get a letter? A letter that came by owl?"

Michelle stared at Harry as though he'd gone crazy. "No. Letter by owl?"

"That's one way to communicate in the wizarding world. We don't generally use post."

Why hadn't she gotten a letter? The ministry of magic could detect underage magic. They could tell if a muggle had magical powers, as Harry suspected Michelle was. They should have put her name down as soon as they detected magic and Hogwarts would send her a letter. Apparently, she had never received one, but why?

"Her, Harry, could I see that for a second?" Michelle asked, pointing to his wand.

Harry's grip on it tightened. He didn't generally let other people hold his wand. But then again, she hadn't had any training, so it couldn't really hurt. He smiled and held his wand out for her to take. Michelle smiled back, taking the wand and examining it with a critical eye.

"That's interesting," she said. "Just a stick, but yet it can do so much. Channel power, direct it, have a better control."

Harry suddenly felt anxious. He shouldn't have given it to her. He stepped forward, reaching out to take it, but she turned it on him. There was a wicked glint in her eye and Harry felt his stomach turn over. Suddenly, he yelped as he was jerked into the air, hanging upside down. He stared at Michelle in shock.

She smiled up at him. "Levicorpus. Useful, isn't it. Pity you forgot to tell me the counter-jinx. I guess you'll just have to hang there until someone finds you."

"What… you," Harry stammered, feeling the blood rush to his head. "It's Liberacorpus! Let me down!"

Michelle glanced at him and Harry was innerved by the look she was giving him. It was gleeful, yet full of pity. "I'm sorry, Harry Potter. But I need a wand and you so generously gave me yours. Don't worry though, I think I can figure out how to work it. And you can always buy another one." She grabbed her backpack and headed toward the door. "Have a nice day!"

Harry didn't seem to have control over his mind. He couldn't think properly. He just watched, dumbstruck, as Michelle moved toward the door. Then, quite suddenly his wits came back to him and he yelled. "Mr. Weasley! Kingsley! She's a witch! She's a witch!"


	15. Confusion in Confusion

Chapter 14

Confusion in Confusion

Michelle stared in shock at Harry as he hollered at the top of his head.

"Oh, why didn't I think of that," she cursed, turning on her heal and marching back toward Harry. She could hear people running down the hall. "Great. Just great. Tell the whole world won't you?" she grumbled at Harry. He glanced at her, but continued to yell.

"Oh, shut it!" she yelled. She thought "_Liberacorpus_!" and Harry came crashing to the ground again with a yelp. He landed painfully on the floor.

With surprising speed, he leapt to his feet and jumped at her. She cried out, but she was soon sprawled spread-eagle on the ground. She kicked out and felt her foot connect with Harry's stomach.

"Umph!" Harry clutched his stomach and Michelle managed to get out from under him. She concentrated once more on her anger and sent it coursing through her body. This time, she didn't bother trying to send it out. She just focused on getting it into the wand, which she had pointed at Harry. His eyes widened as a jet of fire came bursting from the wand tip and he rolled to one side. It missed him by inches, but it singed his clothes and the rug on the ground caught fire.

The door suddenly burst open and someone shouted, "Expelliarmus!" Michelle felt Harry's wand fly out of her hand. Two wizards, the red-haired one and the minister, and one witch, who Michelle didn't recognize, had entered the room and were pointing their wands at her. The witch sent a jet of water at the fire. It hissed then went out.

Michelle backed up into the wall, fear suddenly overpowering her. What had she been thinking? How had she expected to get away when there were wizards and witches swarming the place? And what would she do now? At the same time as she asked herself these questions, she felt horrified. She had knowingly and purposefully attacked a defenseless boy. But, why had she felt that surge of hate in her chest when, once she had held the wand. She had wanted nothing more than to see Harry hurt. But he hadn't done anything to her. She glanced over at Harry and saw him carefully picking is wand up off the ground. He was watching her, his face betraying confusion and anger.

"Impossible!" the witch stammered.

The minister frowned. "Not probable, Hestia. But certainly possible. That explains how she was able to see the Leaky Cauldron in the first place."

"But Kingsley, if she had magic, why hasn't she been to Hogwarts?" the witch, Hestia, asked.

No one seemed to have an answer for this. They all eyed Michelle, Hestia looking nervous, Kingsley stern, and the red-haired man, curious. Michelle avoided looking at Harry. He had been so nice to her and then she had attacked him.

"Harry, she hasn't been to Hogwarts, has she?" the red-haired man asked.

"No, Mr. Weasley, she hasn't," Harry replied.

Michelle glanced at him. He was eyeing her cautiously. When Michelle and his eyes meet, she felt a jerk in her chest again, a hatred and anger that wasn't her own. Harry's eyes widened as he saw her eyes flash dangerously. Michelle gained control of herself again. She stared at Harry, confused, and slightly afraid. His face reflected her own emotions, but it lacked the fear.

"What is your name, dear?" Mr. Weasley asked kindly.

Michelle stayed mum. Harry, however, informed them. "Her name is Michelle. She didn't give me her last name."

"I don't have one," Michelle mumbled.

"What did you say?" Mr. Weasley said.

Michelle shook her head. "Nothing."

Once again, she looked at Harry. His eyebrows had contracted and she figured that he had heard her. "Orphan?" he mouthed. Michelle stared back at him, gave a curt nod, then wondered why she bothered to reply in any form. It wasn't his business.

"What are we going to do with her?" Hestia asked. "We can't just let her go back into the muggle world, not now that she knows her own power."

Michelle looked at the witch. "Why not?"

Kingsley eyed her carefully and then replied, "Because you don't know how to fully control your power. You haven't learned enough to let you wonder about. Some one could get hurt. Here is the proof," Kingsley said, pointing at the burned rug and Harry's singed robe.

"What if I swear I'll never do magic again?" Michelle asked. And she meant it. This power scared her.

Mr. Weasley smiled at her. "Even the best wizards can't control their power at times. When we feel a strong emotion, sometimes things happen. But, once you are trained, it won't be as hard."

"Trained?" Michelle stammered. They weren't going to let her go! "What do you mean?"

Harry stepped forward. "Mr. Weasley, I'm not sure that's wise. She'd be too far behind. She'd be made fun of. It wouldn't be a good experience."

Michelle felt herself blush. Harry was trying to protect her from embarrassment after she'd almost burned his face off. This boy was too sweet for his own good. And why did he even care. If he had attacked her, she wouldn't be trying to help him.

Mr. Weasley sighed. "I'm afraid we have no choice, Harry. It's the only place that would work and she has to learn how to control her power. She has too much skill already for her to just wonder off with it. I mean, how many people can conjure fire on their first try, even when they know what they're doing?"

Harry didn't say anything and Michelle was grateful that he didn't mention the other spells she had performed.

Kingsley turned away from Michelle. "I have business to attend to. Arthur, inform Tom that Michelle will be needing a room in the Leaky Cauldron. The ministry will pay, as this all seems to be a blunder on our part. I don't know why we didn't detect her, but I shall launch a full scale enquiry and see if we can discover why. We don't want this happening again. Hestia, I want you to visit the ministry library. Inform the staff that I want everyone to research underage magic detection. I'll be in my office sending an owl to Hogwarts. Minerva will want to know about this, as she'll have to make special arrangements about the girls education."

Kingsley turned to leave, but then stopped. He faced Harry. "Potter, I want to thank you. But I also want to warn you. They're still looking for you. Be careful."

Michelle stared back and forth between Kingsley and Harry, wondering what on earth that had been about, but she was pretty sure they wouldn't inform her.


	16. Put Them Together and What Have You Got

Chapter 15

Put Them Together and What Have You Got

"I swear I've seen her before! But the more I looked at her, the more I can't pinpoint where or when," Harry said.

He was sitting on his camp bed in Ron's room, his head in his hands. His brain hurt now from thinking so hard, yet being unable to come up with an answer, even a wrong one. Ron and Hermione were sitting across the room on Ron's bed, shoulder to shoulder. Ginny was sitting next to Harry, one arm wrapped around one of his. She plucked it gently from his face. Harry looked at her.

"Harry, you could have seen her anywhere. We all could have. Just in passing or… or," Ginny supplied.

Harry shook his head. "No. No, I think I've seen her somewhere important."

"The Ministry of Magic?" Ron suggested.

"Don't be silly, Ron," Hermione scoffed. "She didn't even know she was a witch. How could Harry have possible seen her there?"

Harry had just recently filled his friends in on everything that had happened when he'd talked to the girl. Not word for word, but close enough. The conversation was still bothering him. Hadn't he had that conversation with someone before?

"She must be really powerful though," Hermione continued. "I mean, we didn't learn levicorpus until our sixth year and it's a difficult spell, nonverbal and everything. To perform it, just like that, with no previous training…"

"Do you think I should have told Kingsley she did it?" Harry interrupted.

Hermione thought for a moment. "No, I think it was good you didn't. They might have… well, questioned her about it and I don't think she would have liked it. But if they are sending her to Hogwarts then she should be able to control herself more. But, Harry, I'm still surprised by how powerful she actually is."

"Well, no witch or wizard has gone that long without going to school of some sort," Ron said. "This has got to be a first, so no one knows what those years would do to your powers. Maybe there is some wisdom in waiting 'til we're older to learn some spells. Maybe it's just easier then, and she's not exactly young. Our age at least."

"At least," Harry nodded. "I never actually asked her age."

There was silence for a moment and then Ginny asked, "But, do you think she's muggle-born?"

Harry sighed. "Wouldn't know and she wouldn't either. She's an orphan."

"That's horrible!" Hermione gasped. "If her parents were a witch and wizard, then, she'd never know. She must have grown up in some horrible orphanage, having strange powers she couldn't explain. I bet she's never had a real friend."

Ron snorted. "She's not very nice though. I don't know if anyone would want to be friends with her."

"Ron, she's probably not very nice because of her past! But you wouldn't care …"

Harry was staring at Hermione, but not really seeing her. The argument between Ron and Hermione fell on deaf ears. This was getting stranger and stranger. Why couldn't he figure this out? It shouldn't be this hard. Hermione's words had made him feel even more like the answer was right in front of him, hovering just out of reach. Strange powers and a horrible orphanage. So familiar. And the words she'd said to him, he had heard them before hadn't he?

"Harry," Ginny's voice called from far away. "Harry, they've stopped arguing. You can come back now."

But he couldn't, he had to figure this out. It was so close.

"Harry!" Ginny yelled in his ear.

Harry jumped, smacking his head on Ron's low ceiling and yelping.

"Sorry! Sorry!" Ginny said, placed her hand on his head and rubbing it. "I didn't mean to scare you like that!"

"I wasn't scared. Just surprised. I didn't expect you to shout," Harry mumbled, placing his head back in his hands. "Boy, I could use a pensive. My brain hurts from all the thoughts dancing around in there…"

He sat up, abruptly, sending Ginny flying off the bed as she had been bending over him. "Argh!" But Harry didn't notice. All those strange thoughts bouncing about had suddenly clicked in his mind at the word pensive. A conversation between an old man and a young boy was running like a muggle film through his head.

"_Magic?" the boy whispered._

"_That's right," the old man replied._

"_It's…it's magic, what I can do?"_

"_What is it that you can do?"_

"_All sorts," breathed the boy. "I can make things move without touching them. I can make animals do what I want them to do, without training them. I can make bad things happen to people who annoy me. I can make them hurt if I want to. I knew I was different," the boy continued. "I knew I was special. Always, I knew there was something."_

"_Well, you were quite right," said the old man. "You are a wizard."_

_The boy looked at the old man. "Are you a wizard too?"_

"_Yes, I am."_

"_Prove it. Tell the truth." (HBP pg. 271)  
_

And the old man, who was Harry's old headmaster, Professor Dumbledore, obliged. He showed the boy, Tom Riddle, his magic.

This conversation was so much like the one he'd just had with Michelle, but it meant so much more. Harry gasped as he watched the boy change in his mind from the handsome, dark-haired, pale eleven year old who so resembled the girl he'd so recently meet, to a monster with pale, skull tight skin, a nose with slits for nostrils, spider like hands, and those red glowing eyes. He heard the voice hiss, _"I, who have gone further than anybody along the path to immortality."_

"Harry! Harry!"

"What's the matter with him? Harry, what's wrong?"

"Harry!"

Harry jerked back to the present to find himself covered in sweat and shaking, staring at a wall and surrounded by Ginny, Hermione, and Ron. He took several gasping breaths while his friends stared at him in bewilderment and fear. He understood why. He'd only ever been like this when he was seeing into You-Know-Who's mind, but he hadn't been. Harry had only, finally, put two and two together.

"Riddle!"

"Bloody! What's the matter with him? He's gone crazy!"

"Shut up, Ron! Harry, what did you see? What happened?" Hermione sounded close to hysterics.

Only Ginny remained quiet. Harry turned to her and saw that she had gone pale and her eyes were wide.

"You knew?"

She nodded. "That's who Michelle reminded me of. Her eyes, they were just like his. It scared me at first, but I tried to convince myself that it was just a coincidence. I thought I was overacting about her speaking parseltongue. I didn't want … I didn't think… Harry, are you sure?"

"I'm sure."

"Sure of what?" Hermione stammered.

Harry looked at her. "That's who Michelle reminded me and Ginny of."

"Wait, hold on," Ron said. "Did I miss something? Who did she remind you of?

Harry took a deep breath. "Tom Riddle."


End file.
